HPTLC-AMD and HPLC Characterization of the saccharides fraction of the novel food Adansonia digitata (Baobab) fruit pulp

Soluble fibers are and important component of diet. De Caluwé et al. reported that increasing concentrations of baobab dry pulp, led to an increase in the population of bifidobacteria and lactic bacteria because the gut microflora is able to use complex sugars as fructooligosaccharides, xilooligosaccharides etc..as carbon source. Continuing our studies on Adansonia digitata and in the lack of any analytical characterization, we undertook qualitative-quantitative analysis of the latter oligosaccharides fraction, potentially responsible of the known prebiotic activity. The quality control is a compelling issue in the food industry, frequently the lack of rapid and efficient methods does not consent adequate characterization of foods. In this study we continued our previous investigations on high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), applying it to a novel food, very interesting for its nutritional properties, the Adansonia digitata fruit pulp. The objective was to evaluate the oligosaccharides content indicated as responsible of the known prebiotic activity of the fruit. A novel high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) based method was developed using also high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to confirm results before and after hydrolytic treatment. Samples were prepared following and adapting widely accepted extracting procedures for fibers. HPTLC confirmed to be a simple and reliable analytical technique for oligosaccharides detection in different matrix. However, despite what claimed, unattended results were obtained for this dried fruit, even with several different extractions only sucrose, glucose and fructose were recovered. This confirms the need of rapid methods for composition assessment of fiber rich vegetables and fruits.